Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?

Background and Aims The most widespread form of protective mutualisms is represented by plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) that attract ants and other arthropods for indirect defence. Another, but less common, form of sugary secretion for indirect defence occurs in galls induced by cynipi...

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Autores principales: Aranda Rickert, Adriana Marina, Rothen, Carolina Paola, Diez, Patricia Alejandra, González, Ana María, Marazzi, Brigitte
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2024
Materias:
Ants
Gall anatomy
Indirect defence
Prosopis
Protective mutualisms
Cynipid wasps
Extrafloral nectar
Sugary secretion
Acceso en línea:http://repositorio.unne.edu.ar/handle/123456789/53148
Aporte de:
RIUNNE - Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE) de Universidad Nacional del Nordeste
id I48-R184-123456789-53148
record_format dspace
spelling I48-R184-123456789-531482024-10-10T14:15:34Z Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar? Aranda Rickert, Adriana Marina Rothen, Carolina Paola Diez, Patricia Alejandra González, Ana María Marazzi, Brigitte Ants Gall anatomy Indirect defence Prosopis Protective mutualisms Cynipid wasps Extrafloral nectar Sugary secretion Background and Aims The most widespread form of protective mutualisms is represented by plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) that attract ants and other arthropods for indirect defence. Another, but less common, form of sugary secretion for indirect defence occurs in galls induced by cynipid wasps. Until now, such galls have been reported only for cynipid wasps that infest oak trees in the northern hemisphere. This study provides the first evidence of galls that exude sugary secretions in the southern hemisphere and asks whether they can be considered as analogues of plants’ EFNs. Methods The ecology and anatomy of galls and the chemical composition of the secretion were investigated in north-western Argentina, in natural populations of the host trees Prosopis chilensis and P. flexuosa. To examine whether ants protect the galls from natural enemies, ant exclusion experiments were conducted in the field. Key Results The galls produce large amounts of sucrose-rich, nectar-like secretions. No typical nectary and sub- nectary parenchymatic tissues or secretory trichomes can be observed; instead there is a dense vascularization with phloem elements reaching the gall periphery. At least six species of ants, but also vespid wasps, Diptera and Coleoptera, consumed the gall secretions. The ant exclusion experiment showed that when ants tended galls, no dif- ferences were found in the rate of successful emergence of gall wasps or in the rate of parasitism and inquiline in- festation compared with ant-excluded galls. Conclusions The gall sugary secretion is not analogous to extrafloral nectar because no nectar-producing structure is associated with it, but is functionally equivalent to arthropod honeydew because it provides indirect defence to the plant parasite. As in other facultative mutualisms mediated by sugary secretions, the gall secretion triggers a complex multispecies interaction, in which the outcome of individual pair-wise interactions depends on the ecologi- cal context in which they take place. 2024-03-19T13:55:45Z 2024-03-19T13:55:45Z 2017 Artículo Aranda Rickert, Adriana Marina, et al., 2017. Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar? Annals of Botany. Oxford: Oxford University Press, vol. 120, no. 5, p. 1-10. E-ISSN 1095-8290. 0305-7364 http://repositorio.unne.edu.ar/handle/123456789/53148 eng https://academic.oup.com/aob/article/120/5/765/3902986 openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/ application/pdf p. 1-10 application/pdf Oxford University Press Annals of Botany, 2017, vol. 120, no. 5, p. 1-10.
institution Universidad Nacional del Nordeste
institution_str I-48
repository_str R-184
collection RIUNNE - Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE)
language Inglés
topic Ants
Gall anatomy
Indirect defence
Prosopis
Protective mutualisms
Cynipid wasps
Extrafloral nectar
Sugary secretion
spellingShingle Ants
Gall anatomy
Indirect defence
Prosopis
Protective mutualisms
Cynipid wasps
Extrafloral nectar
Sugary secretion
Aranda Rickert, Adriana Marina
Rothen, Carolina Paola
Diez, Patricia Alejandra
González, Ana María
Marazzi, Brigitte
Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?
topic_facet Ants
Gall anatomy
Indirect defence
Prosopis
Protective mutualisms
Cynipid wasps
Extrafloral nectar
Sugary secretion
description Background and Aims The most widespread form of protective mutualisms is represented by plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) that attract ants and other arthropods for indirect defence. Another, but less common, form of sugary secretion for indirect defence occurs in galls induced by cynipid wasps. Until now, such galls have been reported only for cynipid wasps that infest oak trees in the northern hemisphere. This study provides the first evidence of galls that exude sugary secretions in the southern hemisphere and asks whether they can be considered as analogues of plants’ EFNs. Methods The ecology and anatomy of galls and the chemical composition of the secretion were investigated in north-western Argentina, in natural populations of the host trees Prosopis chilensis and P. flexuosa. To examine whether ants protect the galls from natural enemies, ant exclusion experiments were conducted in the field. Key Results The galls produce large amounts of sucrose-rich, nectar-like secretions. No typical nectary and sub- nectary parenchymatic tissues or secretory trichomes can be observed; instead there is a dense vascularization with phloem elements reaching the gall periphery. At least six species of ants, but also vespid wasps, Diptera and Coleoptera, consumed the gall secretions. The ant exclusion experiment showed that when ants tended galls, no dif- ferences were found in the rate of successful emergence of gall wasps or in the rate of parasitism and inquiline in- festation compared with ant-excluded galls. Conclusions The gall sugary secretion is not analogous to extrafloral nectar because no nectar-producing structure is associated with it, but is functionally equivalent to arthropod honeydew because it provides indirect defence to the plant parasite. As in other facultative mutualisms mediated by sugary secretions, the gall secretion triggers a complex multispecies interaction, in which the outcome of individual pair-wise interactions depends on the ecologi- cal context in which they take place.
format Artículo
author Aranda Rickert, Adriana Marina
Rothen, Carolina Paola
Diez, Patricia Alejandra
González, Ana María
Marazzi, Brigitte
author_facet Aranda Rickert, Adriana Marina
Rothen, Carolina Paola
Diez, Patricia Alejandra
González, Ana María
Marazzi, Brigitte
author_sort Aranda Rickert, Adriana Marina
title Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?
title_short Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?
title_full Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?
title_fullStr Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?
title_full_unstemmed Sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?
title_sort sugary secretions of wasp galls : a want-to-be extrafloral nectar?
publisher Oxford University Press
publishDate 2024
url http://repositorio.unne.edu.ar/handle/123456789/53148
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